Marking mechanism for grading machines



Feb. 13, 1934.

J. w. JOHNSTON 1,946,583

MARKING MECHANISM FOR GRADING MACHINES Filed May 14, 1932 FIQJ Patented Feb. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES FlQE MARKING MECHANISM FOR GRADING MACHINES Application May 14, 1982. Serial No. 611,860

7 Claims. (Cl. 101-19)" This invention relates to marking or stamping mechanism for grading machines of the kind which grade pieces of stock such as shoe soles, taps, heel lifts, counters or other blanks, in accordance with their thickness. Although of more general application the invention will for convenience be herein illustrated as applied toa grading machine of the type shown in the Nichols Patent No. 1,130,321 dated March 2, 1915.

Since the present invention consists mainly in novel mechanism for actuating and controlling the grade marking wheel, and for locking the grade marking wheel to the slide or plunger which carries the marking wheel, during its marking stroke, and since the construction of the grading machine as a whole constitutes no part of the present invention, only such parts of the grading machine need be shown as are necessary to an understanding of the environment and mode of operation of the new marking mechanism.

Objects of the invention are to provide novel and improved means by which the marking wheel is automatically locked directly to the carrier slide during the marking stroke of the carrier slide, and is automatically unlocked when the carrier slide returns to its normal stationary position, as distinguished from the mechanism of the Cogswell Patent No. 1,477,633, for example, which locks the marking wheel not to the carrier slide but to a bracket fixed on the machine frame; to provide novel and improved means for rotatably adjusting the marking wheel by a rack on the slide bar which controls the grading devices, i. e. the evening and marking devices, said rack directly engaging the pinion on the marking wheel, as distinguished from the more complicated and less reliable link and gear segment connection between the slide bar and pinion shown in said Nichols patent; and to provide a novel and improved construction and assembly of grade marking and tannage marking wheels.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal section of the new marking mechanism and of certain parts of an evening and marking machine of the character illustrated in said Nichols Patent No. 1,130,321; and

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The frame of the machine is indicated at 10, 10 and includes a bed 11 over which the soles or a other blanks pass in the direction of-the arrow,

at the left of Fig. 1, on their way from the usual detecting mechanism (not shown) to the evening and feeding rolls 12 and 13.

The lower roll 13 is yieldingly supported, as usual, and normally occupies the position illustrated in 1. The upper roll 12, which constitutes a gauge roll to determine the thickness to which the blank is to be evened or skived, is carried by shaft 14, the ends of which are journaled in journal boxes 15, 15, mounted to slide in vertical ways 16 at opposite sides of the machine frame. The upper roll 12 is normally held by gravity at the limit of its downward movement toward the lower roll 13.

Each journal box 15 is provided upon its top with a wedge block 17, the two wedge blocks 17, 17 cooperating respectively with complementary upper wedge blocks 18. The upper wedge blocks 18 are fixed on the under side of the slide bar 19, which is mounted in guide-ways on the machine frame to slide transversely of the machine, and constitutes an adjusting member for controlling the adjustment of both the evening or skiving devices and the marking wheel. These wedge blocks limit the vertical movement of the upper gauge roll 12 in accordance with the endwise adjustment of slide bar 19 in response to the detecting mechanism, as more fully described in said Nichols Patent No. 1,130,321.

When a blank is fed forward on bed 11 to rolls 12 and 13 the entrance of the forward end' of the blank between the rolls raises the upper gauge roll 12 until the wedge blocks 17 are seated against the wedge blocks 18 thus determining the final thickness of the blank after it is skived by the knife blade 20, which cuts a thin layer from the bottom side of the blank to render the article of uniform thickness throughout or throughout a predetermined portion thereof. As thicker portions of the blank are encountered by the rolls after the upper gauge roll 12 has been stopped in its vertical movement by the wedge blocks the lower roll 13 will yield downwardly thus permitting the knife blade tovskive off a thicker layer at such thicker areas.

The carrier slide 21 for the marking wheel is movable in vertical ways 22 provided on the crosshead of the machine frame. An actuating arm 23 engages the upper end of the carrier slide 21 and is normally strongly urged in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, as usual. The mechanism for operating the slide 21 to stamp or mark the blanks may be the same as shown in said Nichols Patent No. 1,130,321 and may include a cam on shaft 24 for normally supporting the carrier slide 21 in elevated position and for permitting the carrier slide 21 to be forced abruptly downward by the spring pressed arm 23 and then returned to normal position upon one revolution of the shaft 24 through gear 25, which is part of a train of gearing controlled by a trip actuated by each blank when it reaches a predetermined position for imparting to the shaft 24 a single revolution thereby causing the marking wheel to make a single marking stroke and return to normal position.

The parts thus far referred to may all be substantially the same as described in said Nichols Patent No. 1,130,321 to which reference is made for a fuller description and need not therefore be more fully described here.

The novel features of the present invention consist more particularly in the parts immediately associated with the marking wheel and controlling the marking wheel. In accordance with the present invention the carrier slide 21 is provided near its lower end with a cylindrical hole or bearing in which is mounted the tubular hub 26' of a tannage marking wheel 26. A thumbscrew 27 entering a tapped hole in the lower end of slide 21 may be set up tight against the hub 26 of the tannage wheel 26 to hold the latter in any position in which it is manually adjusted. The periphery of the tannage marking wheel 26 is provided with characters or symbols indicating different tanning processes or tannages. When a batch of blanks is to be run through the machine and it is desired to impress thereon a mark to designate the particular tannage employed in the leather from which the blanks were cut, the thumbscrew 27 may be loosened and the tannage wheel 26 manually adjusted rotatably until the proper character indicating the tannage in question is brought to the bottom of the Wheel, after which the thumbscrew 27 is again set up tight to hold the tannage Wheel in fixed position.

Within the bore of the tubular hub 26' of the tannage wheel is journaled a spindle or shaft 28 to one end of which, adjacent the tannage wheel '26, is fixed a grade marking wheel 29 whose periphery is provided, as usual, with a series of embossing characters indicating the grade or thickness of the blanks preferably in terms of "irons. Fixed to the face of the grade marking 'wheel 29 on the side opposite to the tannage marking wheel 26 is a pinion 310 which is normally directly in mesh with a straight rack of teeth 31 provided on the under side of the wedge carrying slide bar 19. When the slide bar 19 is adjusted endwise by the detecting mechanism, as explained in said Nichols patent, it acts through rack 31 and pinion 30 to rotatively adjust the grade marking wheel 29 to correspond to the grade thickness to which the wedge blocks 18, and consequently the gauge roll 12 of the skiving mechanism, are adjusted by the detecting mechanism.

Upon the end of the shaft or spindle 28 opposite to the grade marking wheel 29 is fixed a toothed locking wheel 32, whose periphery is formed with a circular series of notches 33, one for each marking character of the wheel 29. Cooperating with these notches is a tooth 34 on the lower end of a slide bolt 35, mounted to slide in vertical ways 36 on the crosshead of the machine frame. The slide bolt 35 is formed with an aperture 37 which is engaged by one end of a lever 38 extending through a hole in the carrier slide 21, and fulcrumed therein on pin 39. The other and shorter end of the lever 38 cooperates with an abutment or stop shoulder 40 provided on the crosshead of the machine frame.

The carrier slide 21 is held within its vertical ways on the crosshead of the machine by means of a plate 41 which may be fastened to the frame by screws as indicated in Fig. 2. This retaining plate 41 is formed in its lower part With a vertical slot 42 through which the end of lever 38 extends for engagement with the locking bolt 35.

When the carrier slide 21 occupies its normal elevated position the shorter arm of lever 38 is in engagement with the abutment shoulder 40 thereby causing the longer arm of lever 38 and the slide bolt 35 to be held in elevated position with the lower end of bolt 35 out of engagement with the toothed locking wheel 32. The locking wheel 29 is therefore normally free to be rotatively adjusted by the rack on slide bar 19.

When the carrier slide 21 starts downward on its operative or marking stroke the shorter arm of lever 38 is moved away from the abutment shoulder 40, which permits a spring pressed plunger 43 acting against the top of lever 38 to force the locking bolt 35 downwardly into engagement with the toothed locking wheel 32, thus locking the grade marking wheel to the carrier during the marking stroke of the carrier and Wheel. The tooth 34 of the slide bolt starts to enter one of the notches of locking wheel 32 just before the teeth of the pinion 30 clear the teeth of rack 31, thereby locking the wheels 32 and 29 against rotative displacement while the pinion 30 is out of mesh with the rack 31. Similarly, the tooth 34 will disengage the locking wheel 32 upon the return movement of the carrier slide 21 just 0 before the pinion 30 engages the teeth of rack 31. Preferably the tooth 34 is wedge shaped and each recess 33 of wheel 32 is of complementary V-shape so that when the slide bolt 35 is forced into engagement with the wheel 32 it acts to justify the 5 marking wheel 29 so as to position its lowermost marking character accurately for the proper stamping of the work. The engagement of the locking bolt 35 with the locking wheel 32 holds the marking Wheel 29 and its pinion 30 against rotative displacement at all times while the pinion 30 is out of mesh with rack 31; and also holds the pinion 30 in proper position to reengage with the rack 31 without danger of collision between the ends of the teeth.

Immediately upon the return of the carrier slide 21 to its normal or uppermost position the abutment shoulder 40 on the crosshead of the machine acts through lever 38 to disengage the looking bolt 35 from the locking wheel 32 so that as soon as the marked and evened blank is discharged from between the rolls 12 and 13 the wedge slide bar 19 and the marking wheel 29 are free to be set by the detecting mechanism preparatory to marking and evening the next blank.

I claim:

1. Marking mechanism comprising a frame, a normally stationary carrier mounted for reciprocation on the frame, a marking wheel rotatably mounted on the carrier and provided with a pinion by which the marking wheel is rotated, a rack mounted to slide on the frame, whose teeth are in mesh with the pinion when the carrier is in normal position and are disengaged from the pinion during the marking stroke of the carrier and marking wheel, and means for automatically locking the marking wheel to the carrier before the teeth of the pinion are fully withdrawn from the teeth of the rack.

2. Marking mechanism comprising a frame, a carrier mounted for reciprocation on the frame, a marking wheel rotatably mounted on the carrier, a toothed locking wheel fixed to rotate with the marking wheel, a locking bolt mounted to slide on the carrier, and a lever fulcrumed on the carrier cooperating with the frame and bolt to lock the bolt to the toothed wheel during the marking stroke of the carrier and marking wheel.

3. Marking mechanism comprising a frame, a normally stationary carrier slide mounted for vertical reciprocation on the frame, a marking wheel rotatably mounted on the carrier slide, a toothed locking wheel fixed to rotate with marking wheel, a locking bolt mounted to slide on the carrier slide, a lever fulcrurned on the carrier slide, one end of which controls the locking bolt, an abutment on the frame engaging the other end of the lever to hold the locking bolt disengaged from the toothed wheel when the carrier slide is in elevated position, and a spring for causing the bolt to engage the toothed wheel when the lever is disen aged from the abutment by the downward movement of the carrier slide.

4. Marking mechanism comprising a frame, a normally stationary carrier slide mounted for vertical reciprocation on the frame, a marking wheel rotatably mounted on the carrier slide and provided with a pinion by which the marking wheel is rotated, a rack mounted to slide on the frame whose teeth are in mesh with the pinion when the carrier slide is in elevated position and are disengaged from the pinion during the downward stroke of the carrier slide, a toothed locking wheel fixed to rotate with marking wheel, a locking bolt mounted to slide on the carrier slide, a lever fulcrumed on the carrier slide, one end of which controls the locking bolt, an abutment on the frame engaging the other end of the lever to hold the locking bolt disengaged from the toothed wheel when the carrier slide is in elevated position, and a spring for causing the bolt to engage the toothed wheel when the lever is disengaged from the abutment and the pinion is disengaged from the rack by the downward movement of the carrier slide.

5. Marking mechanism comprising a frame, a normally stationary carrier slide mounted for vertical reciprocation on the frame, a marking wheel rotatably mounted on the carrier slide, a

toothed locking wheel fixed to rotate with marking wheel, a locking bolt mounted to slide on the carrier slide, a lever extending through a hole in the carrier slide from front to rear and fulcrumed in said hole, one end of the lever actuating the locking bolt, an abutment on the frame engaging the other end of the lever to hold the locking bolt disengaged from the toothed locking wheel when the carrier slide is in elevated position, and a spring acting on the lever for moving the bolt into engagement with the toothed locking wheel when the lever is disengaged from the abutment by the downward movement of the carrier slide.

6. Marking mechanism comprising a frame, a carrier mounted for reciprocation on the frame, said carrier having a cylindrical bearing hole, a tannage marking wheel having a tubular hub mounted for manual rotative adjustment in said hole, means for holding the hub and tannage marking wheel fixed in any position of adjustment on the carrier, a grade marking wheel carried by a shaft journaled in the bore of said tubular hub, and means for rotatively adjusting the grade marking wheel.

7. Marking mechanism comprising a frame, a carrier mounted for reciprocation on the frame, a marking wheel rotatably mounted on the carrier and provided with a pinion by which the marking wheel is rotated, an adjusting rack mounted to slide on the frame having teeth which are in mesh with the pinion when the carrier is in normal position and are disengaged from the pinion when the carrier and marking wheel are moved to marking position, a locking rack rotatable with the marking wheel, alocking member mounted on the carrier for cooperation with the locking rack but disengaged from the locking rack when the carrier is in normal position, and controlling means for the locking member adapted upon the marking stroke of the carrier to move the locking member into one of the notches of the locking rack before the teeth of the pinion are fully withdrawn from the teeth of the adjusting rack and upon the return stroke of the carrier to withdraw the looking member from the notch of the locking rack after the teeth of the pinion have entered between the teeth of the adjusting rack.

JAMES W. JOHNSTON. 

